That was a quote from another anonymous (was it you?). I didn’t write it, and I respect our US soldiers, but I still disagree with you.

WIth one notable exception (OBL) mentioned below, I don’t believe that the actions of US soldiers in any of the conflicts of the last 30 years have secured my freedom.

I think it is all the more tragic that many of out best young men and women have been conned into wasting their lives under the illusion that they are protecting their relatives and friends back in the USA.

If you really respected our troops, you would require our politicians to be honest with them and explain to them the real reasons why they are being required to fight overseas.

These men and women might often be poorly educated in world affairs, but they are intelligent adults who if it is properly explained to them, are intellectually capable of understanding the complex international politics and business that leads our government administration to deploy them in this way. I have served my country in the Navy for many years and I have occupied senior executive positions in government, but I don’t see how any American lives have been protected by the deployment of our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan: quite the opposite.

Killing OBL was good, but that was a special forces action in Pakistan, so I will credit that one with potentially saving American lives that might have otherwise been lost in future terrorist attacks.

To treat our servicemen like children who need a simplistic patriotic illusion to make them willing to sacrifice their lives is showing them the utmost disrespect. It is the same for their grieving loved ones. Flag waving may help initially, but they also deserve better.